List of Issues

The list of issues is adopted by the Committee and sent to each State concerned right after its corresponding pre-session. It includes a list of questions on selected issues, a request for updates on new laws, institutions, policies and programmes and ratifications of human rights instruments, and specific disaggregated data and statistics.

The deadline for the State’s written replies is specified in the list of issues (it is usually published about 2 months before the session).

Frequently Asked Questions About the List of Issues Sent by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to the State under Review

1. When and where is the list of issues published?

The list of issues is usually published 2 to 3 weeks after the country pre-session on the Committee’s webpage, but there is no official timeline and it may take longer.

If it is still not online one month after the pre-session, you can contact the Secretariat of the Committee at [email protected] to ask for an update.

2. An important issue is not included in the list of issues. What does that mean?

The list of issues is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all important or relevant issues in the country to be reviewed. Rather it is a list of specific topics on which the Committee would like to receive more information and clarifications. It does determine the content of the dialogue with the State or the concluding observations.

If an issue you think is important is not included in the list of issues, this does not mean that it will not be raised by the Committee during its dialogue with the State at the session.

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Standard Reporting Procedure

The cycle starts when the national government submits its State report on how it has implemented its children’s rights obligations to the Committee. The date of submission determines the timeline of the following steps. The State report is a public document that is uploaded on the Committee’s website.

Any children’s rights defender independent from the government can submit written information to the Committee to complement the State report. This is called an alternative report. Children’s rights defenders can ask the Committee to publish their report on its website or keep it confidential. Learn more about the type of information you can submit and how to do so.

The pre-session is a one week meeting period that takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. During the pre-session, the Committee meets with the children’s rights defenders they have decided to invite, based on the alternative reports they have received, to prepare for the country session with State representatives.

A country pre-session is a 2.5 hour confidential meeting between all Committee members, children’s rights defenders invited by the Committee and UN agencies representatives, like UNICEF, to discuss the situation of children’s rights in a given country. It is an opportunity for civil society to share information and concerns before the Committee’s country session with the State representatives of the country concerned.

Based on the information received through the State report, alternative reports and the pre-session, the Committee establishes a list of issues that require additional information (e.g. clarifications, data and statistics), which is sent to each State which submitted a report before the session that will review them.

These lists of issues are public documents accessible on the Committee’s website, under the relevant session page. They are drafted in one of the Committee’s working languages, namely English, French or Spanish and an official deadline for the government’s written replies is set. Children’s rights defenders can also provide comments to the list of issues or raise additional points not included in the list of issues by sending additional submissions to the Committee before the session.

Governments are asked to answer the Committee’s list of issues at least a couple of months before the session (the exact deadline can be found in the list of issues). These written replies are published on the Committee’s website when they are received by the Committee.

At this stage, children’s rights defenders, including those who did not submit an alternative report or did not participate in the pre-session, can send additional submissions to the Committee to comment on the State’s written replies and/or send new or updated information to the Committee before the session, for example.

The session is a three week meeting period that takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. During the session, the Committee meets with government representatives from the countries up for review to discuss how each State is fulfilling its children’s rights obligations.

The Committee bases the discussion on many things, including: the State report, the government’s written replies to the Committee’s list of issues, the alternative reports, information shared during the pre-session and children’s meeting, and other relevant documentation received or consulted by the Committee.

A country session is a public meeting between the Committee and the State representatives of the country up for review, during which they have an “interactive dialogue” about the situation of children’s rights in the country. Anyone, including the media and children’s rights defenders, can attend the meeting as an observer. But no one other than the State representatives or the Committee can speak during the meeting. The meeting can be watched online live or after the meeting.

After each session, the Committee drafts concluding observations on the situation of children’s rights in each of the countries it has just reviewed. These concluding observations are based on the dialogue between the Committee and the State and can only mention issues discussed during the country session. They constitute a public document, which contains a summary of the dialogue, the Committee’s recommendations to the State and the date for the submission of the next State report.

Between two State reviews by the Committee, there are no official follow up measures undertaken by the Committee. The State is expected to follow the recommendations made by the Committee and report on their implementation in its next report. All interested actors can monitor the State’s implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and contribute to their follow up.

Simplified Reporting Procedure

The cycle starts when the national government accepts the invitation of the CRC Committee to be reviewed under the Simplified Reporting Procedure. The government can also decline the invitation, and be reviewed under the regular procedure. Only the States that are invited by the Committee can accept to be reviewed under the SRP.

The Committee is taking a progressive approach to invite more States since November 2016.

Any children’s rights defender independent from the government can provide written inputs to the List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR) by sending information to the Committee.

The submission should include emerging trends and key issues that children’s rights defenders, and a set of questions, which may or may not be related to previous Concluding Observations that children’s rights defenders think should be covered in the List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR).
Children’s rights defenders can ask the Committee to publish their report on its website or keep it confidential.

Based on the information received through the written inputs, the Committee establishes a List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR) which is sent to the State to require information (e.g. data and statistics) on the implementation of the Convention and the two Optional Protocols.

These Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR) are public documents accessible on the Committee’s website, under the relevant session page. They are drafted in one of the Committee’s working languages, namely English, French or Spanish and an official deadline for the government’s State report is set.

When the National Government submit its State report on how it has implemented its children’s rights obligations to the Committee and in responding to the LOIPR. The date of the submission determines the timeline of the following steps.

The State report is a public document that is uploaded on the Committee’s website.

Check when your national government report is due and learn what you can do if the State report is overdue or has already been submitted.

Any children’s rights defender independent from the government, including those who did not submit inputs to the LOIPR, can submit written information to the Committee to complement the State report, to comment on the State’s Report and/or to send new or updated information to the Committee before the pre-session, for example. More detailed information than the first report, this second submission is meant to be the comprehensive “alternative report”. Children’s rights defenders can ask the Committee to publish their report on its website or keep it confidential. Learn more about the type of information you can submit and how to do so.

Children themselves can also submit information to the Committee through an alternative report, a video, a drawing, or through any other means. Learn more about how children can submit information.

Learn more about this stage in the cycle. Written inputs to State report
⤺ BACK TO CYCLE

The pre-session is a one week meeting period that takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. During the pre-session, the Committee meets with the children’s rights defenders they have decided to invite, based on the alternative reports they have received, to prepare for the country session with State representatives.

A country pre-session is a 2.5 hour confidential meeting between all Committee members, children’s rights defenders invited by the Committee and UN agencies representatives, like UNICEF, to discuss the situation of children’s rights in a given country. It is an opportunity for civil society to share information and concerns before the Committee’s country session with the State representatives of the country concerned.

The session is a three week meeting period that takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. During the session, the Committee meets with government representatives from the countries up for review to discuss how each State is fulfilling its children’s rights obligations.

The Committee bases the discussion on many things, including: the State report, the government’s written replies to the Committee’s list of issues, the alternative reports, information shared during the pre-session and children’s meeting, and other relevant documentation received or consulted by the Committee.

A country session is a public meeting between the Committee and the State representatives of the country up for review, during which they have an “interactive dialogue” about the situation of children’s rights in the country. Anyone, including the media and children’s rights defenders, can attend the meeting as an observer. But no one other than the State representatives or the Committee can speak during the meeting. The meeting can be watched online live or after the meeting.

After each session, the Committee drafts concluding observations on the situation of children’s rights in each of the countries it has just reviewed. These concluding observations are based on the dialogue between the Committee and the State and can only mention issues discussed during the country session. They constitute a public document, which contains a summary of the dialogue, the Committee’s recommendations to the State and the date for the submission of the next State report.

Between two State reviews by the Committee, there are no official follow up measures undertaken by the Committee. The State is expected to follow the recommendations made by the Committee and report on their implementation in its next report. All interested actors can monitor the State’s implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and contribute to their follow up. Among other activities, there is a possibility of inviting members of the Committee for an informal country visit.